Keystone Industries
Metal fabrication
Material arrives with heat numbers and mill certificates that have to reach the paperwork leaving with the finished work.
What is different about running one of these
- 01
Material is bought in stock sizes and cut down, so what is issued rarely matches what was bought in shape or quantity.
- 02
Heat numbers and mill certificates follow the material and have to end up on the paperwork that leaves with the goods.
- 03
Finishing — galvanising, painting, heat treatment — usually goes out and comes back.
- 04
Weld procedure and welder qualification are records somebody will eventually ask to see.
Where it usually goes wrong
Heat numbers that stop at the rack
The certificate is filed on receipt. Which heat went into which fabrication is reconstructed later from dates and hope.
Offcuts that exist on the floor and not in the system
A remnant is put back on the rack and used next week. The stock ledger never knew, so the next purchase suggestion is wrong.
Subcontract finishing as a black hole
Parts go out for galvanising. The job is neither in the building nor finished, and the schedule treats it as though it is still on a work centre here.
What helps, and why here in particular
- 01
Lot and heat traceability
Provenance runs from receipt through issue and production to despatch, and the certificate of conformity walks that chain on one page. - 02
Subcontract operations
Finishing is a routing operation with a consignment out and a receipt back, kept off your own capacity board. - 03
Stock, purchasing and receiving
Locations, lots and heats are recorded on receipt, and every movement carries the cost that later values the job.
Next step
See it against metal fabrication work
A walkthrough starts with your orders, your production flow and your material problems. We follow one of your jobs through the system rather than presenting a feature list.